With the House of Representatives set to hold hearings Thursday on the future of the charitable tax deduction, Americans say they strongly oppose capping or cutting the deduction to help solve the debt crisis facing the country, according to a Dunham+Company national study conducted by Wilson Perkins Allen Opinion Research.

U.S. postage rates will increase on January 27, 2013, with nonprofit rates going up between one and four percent. But the postage increase is only the tip of the postal rate iceberg for nonprofits that face renewed Congressional attention on the idea of removing the nonprofit postage discounts altogether.

In an ominous sign for charities, Americans say they will pull back on their giving in the coming year, according to the 2013 Dunham+Company/Wilson Perkins Allen State of Philanthropy Study. Donors indicated that their giving in 2013 will revert to recession-like levels, with 27 percent of adults – the same percentage as 2009 and 2010 ...

The purpose of this special update is to provide a summary of the provisions which will most directly impact charitable giving and to provide a simple explanation of one of the more complex provisions of the new law called the Pease Amendment.

A plurality of Americans around the country oppose limiting or eliminating the charitable tax deduction for households earning more than $250,000 annually, according to a recent Dunham+Company/Wilson Perkins Allen study.

Although most Americans plan to continue to support their favorite charities this holiday season, more than two-fifths say they will not contribute to other organizations they have supported in the past or new ones, likely leading to a softening of support for charities, based on a recent Campbell Rinker/Dunham+Company national study of donors.

Each year The Chronicle of Philanthropy publishes the rankings of the top 400 charities in America. This list is what they consider a “bellwether of giving trends” as, according to The Chronicle, $1 out of every $4 from individuals, corporations, and foundations is raised by the nonprofits who make this list.

In 2011 this group ended up with an average increase in private donations of 7.5 percent. This is good news for this group of charities. But how did evangelical ministries that made the list fare?

At a time when both the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates say they are considering capping the charitable tax deduction, a national Dunham+Company/Campbell Rinker study conducted in the last month shows that the deduction is vital to giving in America.

“We often discuss with clients how direct mail is spoken language, not written language,” says Rick Dunham, President+CEO of Dunham+Company. “In this post, direct mail expert Tom Ahern, in his usual irreverent and blunt style, gives us a good reminder of how direct mail is so different and why.”

The overall increase in online giving is largely attributable to a jump from 44 percent in 2010 to 58 percent in 2012 among the Baby Boomer generation (people born from 1946 through 1964). In other words, the survey indicates that the raw number of Boomers giving online has increased by almost one-third in the last two years.